Drury's bill is the first legislative move to shut down daily fantasy sports operators in Illinois. It would target only daily fantasy sports operators, labeling their paid games illegal gambling while exempting seasonlong fantasy sports games from the ban.

The bill also would clarify the state's definition of gambling to include smartphones as opposed to only "online" gambling. It would make operating a paid daily fantasy sports game a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.

If adopted, the bill would immediately halt the Illinois operations of FanDuel and DraftKings, whose paid daily fantasy games were played by about 2 million Illinois residents last year.

"I think it's important to put this issue to rest and clarify that daily fantasy sports are illegal gambling," Drury said.

Drury has been one of the most vocal opponents of a bill introduced last fall by Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, that would have exempted daily fantasy sports from the state's definition of gambling and implemented a licensing and tax structure for the games.

Drury, who is vice chairman of the House Criminal Judiciary Committee, has blasted Zalewski's bill as laying out inadequate and unenforceable consumer protections.

"My concern is that this bill purports to have a lot of regulations which really amount to much ado about nothing," Drury testified in a House committee meeting last month. "Until we can parse through this and have some real regulations that keep bad people out of the industry, that protect our children and that prevent bad people from playing, the bill simply isn't there."

Zalewski's bill was approved last month by the Senate but could not garner enough support in the House before the end of the legislative session. As a result, for the rest of this year, it would need to be approved by a supermajority to be enacted immediately, making it a long shot for companies like FanDuel and DraftKings to get the legislative approval they're seeking any time soon. Drury's bill also would require supermajority approval to take effect immediately.

If either bill were to pass now with a simple majority, it could not take effect until next June.

On top of his consumer protection objections, Drury shared major concerns with several colleagues over bribery allegations against a DraftKings lobbyist, calling any vote on the bill "tainted."

Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, originally a co-sponsor of the bill, testified last month that she was shown an email sent by a DraftKings lobbyist to a superior allegedly stating that they could get votes supporting the bill in exchange for charitable contributions. The point person for DraftKings' lobbying effort in Illinois denied any wrongdoing.

Zalewski declined to comment on Drury's bill, but testified last week that he would continue to speak to colleagues about the merits of his bill in hopes of rallying enough support to pass it.

Spokespeople for FanDuel, DraftKings and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, which represents major daily fantasy operators, could not immediately be reached for comment on Drury's bill.

While he aims to have it assigned to committee this month, the fight by FanDuel and DraftKings to keep their doors open in Illinois has moved to the Sangamon County District Court, where the companies are seeking a declaratory judgment against the Attorney General's opinion.

Lack of legal clarity in the near future could make vendors that allow FanDuel and DraftKings to operate—such as payment processors and credit card companies—wary of continuing to do business here this summer and into the betting-heavy football season. One Chicago-based daily fantasy operator, SportsLock, stopped offering games last month for that very reason.

"Our industry has worked tirelessly with leaders in Springfield to develop legislation to keep more than 2 million men and women in Illinois enjoying fantasy sports. Rep. Drury's proposed legislation seems to take two steps back at a time when the Senate has passed legislation and the House continues to debate the current proposal by Rep. Zalewski and Sen. (Kwame) Raoul, which has incidentally been called the strongest consumer protection bill in the nation. We've already seen two Illinois-based fantasy sports operators go out of business, so I would encourage Rep. Drury to instead work with the co-sponsors of the original legislation.”